The owner of a Jefferson County counseling service was found guilty on Friday on charges related to bilking Alabama Medicaid out of more than $40,000.
Victor Paul Williams, 59, of Leeds was found guilty of filing false claims with the Alabama Medicaid Agency and theft of property in the first degree, according to the Alabama attorney general’s office. He was convicted by a jury in Montgomery County circuit court following a two-day trial.
Williams will be sentenced on May 31.
An investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit revealed Williams had submitted numerous false claims to the Medicaid agency. Williams was indicted in Montgomery County in July 2015.
Evidence presented at trial showed Williams billed Alabama Medicaid Agency for more than $40,000 for counseling services that were never provided. He then attempted to conceal the fraud by manipulating treatment records.
Williams had several contractors providing the actual services, according to evidence, but he was billing for far more services than these individuals were actually performing. When confronted with the discrepancies, Williams attempted to manufacture paperwork to support the billings.
“This defendant not only defrauded and stole from the State of Alabama, but also from those who depend on the Medicaid Agency for necessary care,” Attorney General Steven Marshall said in a prepared statement. “Fortunately, the vigilance of the Medicaid Agency’s Program Integrity Division led to his crimes being uncovered. I am also pleased that the steadfast work by my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit resulted in the successful prosecution of this case.”
Williams has two previous felony convictions. Under the Alabama Habitual Offender Act, he faces a possible sentence of up to five years in prison for the Medicaid fraud conviction and 15 to 99 years or life imprisonment for the theft of property first degree conviction.